


The Son of Thranduil

by dedicatedfollower467



Category: Lord of the Rings (Movies), Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Gender Issues, Queer Themes, Trans, Trans Character, trans themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-19
Updated: 2013-01-19
Packaged: 2017-11-27 15:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/663407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dedicatedfollower467/pseuds/dedicatedfollower467
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The seven other walkers find out something about Legolas they hadn’t known before, and some among them react badly.</p><p>Warning! This fic contains a transgender character being forcibly outed against his will. If that would disturb you for any reason, please don't read!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by the "Gimli is really a female dwarf" trope that I've seen around. There are a lot of transphobic attitudes and transphobic thought expressed in this story that I don't personally think. If you think this offensive to trans* people or the trans* community, please let me know exactly where I went wrong. I'm always interested in learning more about gender identity.

Gimli had been there for the “accident,” though he wasn’t actually involved per se. He’d followed Legolas around a lot in Lothlorien. The elf was surprisingly good company, and knew quite a lot about the forest, which Gimli had found himself interested in. Anything beloved of Galadriel was now beloved of Gimli, too.

They’d come back together, to find Boromir and Aragorn wrestling. Lothlorien had eased many of their hurts, both physical and spiritual, and Gimli found it good to see them playing together, almost like brothers.

But then Boromir had tried to make Legolas join in, and Legolas had protested, and then his shirt had ripped, and another piece of clothing underneath had come undone, and suddenly Legolas was before them bare-chested for the first time.

And he had breasts.

Legolas had grabbed the shirt back to hide them, curling in and glaring at Boromir, but the damage had been done.

“Oho,” said Boromir, “So our fair elf is not a young lord, but a maiden!”

Aragorn was frowning and staring at Legolas. “You’re a woman,” he said, “How did you hide from Elrond? And what is your real name?”

Legolas’s eyes were slowly welling up with tears. “Legolas  _is_ my real name,” the elf said, and then turned and fled into the forest.

Gimli watched him go, feeling his heart swell for the poor lad. Still it was best to leave him be; he would need the time apart.

Boromir and Aragorn talked seriously about this new “revelation” in a manner which Gimli thought rather rude. Clearly Men did not have the same understanding of gender as Dwarves did.

 _Of course they don’t_ , Gimli thought,  _they call themselves “Men.”_


	2. Chapter 2

Gimli didn’t understand the humans’ obsession with what they called Legolas’s “real” gender. He said nothing during their talks, but waited for the elf’s return. When he didn’t return, Gimli decided that now would be a good time to look for him.

Gimli had no talent with forest tracking, but following Legolas’s trail was relatively easy. He found the elf sitting on a rock in a clearing. His shirt was off, and Legolas was trying with shaky fingers to fix the split seam. His chest was carefully wrapped with a thick, stiff piece of cloth, pinned tightly. Every now and then he would wipe at his eye.

“Come now, lad,” Gimli said softly, “Let me lend you a hand.”

Legolas turned to look at him, a deep pain showing in his eyes. “‘Lad’?” He laughed humorlessly. “Weren’t you there? Didn’t you see what I  _really_ am?”

Gimli paused. He’d never quite had this much difficulty navigating this sort of thing before. “Would you rather I called you something else?”

Legolas looked like he was about to start crying again; he sniffed angrily and turned away. “No,” he said, viciously stabbing at his shirt with the needle, “It’s fine. Good, even.”

“Then I have seen nothing that would make me call you anything else,” Gimli said, “Give me that shirt – you’re only fraying the cloth.”

Legolas did not hand the shirt over, but he let go when Gimli gently tugged it from his hands. Gimli took the fine needle and began to carefully repair the shirt. He’d mended a few pieces of clothing in his day.

“Among my own people,” Gimli said, not looking up, “It is not uncommon to find men who were not born boys. And, sometimes, you may find women who were not born girls. Of course, our women are not so different from our men in the first place – at least, not so different as in humans and elves.”

Legolas did not reply, and Gimli did not speak again, but he finished with the shirt and silently handed it back to Legolas. The elf took it and pulled it over his head, and he looked like himself again.

“You do not think any less of me?” Legolas asked.

“Lad, it’s no business of mine what’s under your clothes.”  _Not unless you make it my business_ , he thought.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time he and Legolas returned, it was late, and they found the rest of the walkers already in deep conversation. The two of them hung back and listened for a while.

The two men were explaining to the four hobbits that Legolas was ‘actually a woman.’ “Elrond would not have sent a woman on this quest had he known,” said Aragorn, “She must be the real Legolas’s sister, and dressed up as him, and so confused Elrond.”

“A woman should never have come,” said Boromir, “It is too dangerous for her. We ought to leave her with her kin, here in Lothlorien, or send her back to her father.”

The hobbits were silent for a long while, and looking at each other, clearly somewhat confused. All of them seemed to be thinking very hard.

It was Sam who first broke the silence. “Now, what I’m wondering, is how you came by this information about Legolas. Because to my mind there are only two ways you might have found out, and both of them involved clothes coming off, and if Legolas was really hiding, I think that probably means he – or she – didn’t want those clothes coming off.”

There was a short, awkward silence. “It was an accident,” said Boromir, but Sam just glowered at him.

Pippin shrugged. “It’s a little odd,” he said, “But then, so’s my Aunt Lily, and everyone knows she isn’t  _really_  a she, but they don’t care.”

“I don’t see what difference it makes,” said Merry, “Even a woman elf is more helpful than a bunch of us hobbits. Especially if that elf knows archery and woods like Legolas does.”

“Yes,” said Frodo, “And I notice you relied on Legolas greatly before you knew, Aragorn.” He looked straight at the Dúnadain. “If you had never known, and Legolas had kept it a secret forever, would you still wish to leave him behind?”

Aragorn stayed silent for a very long moment. “No,” he said, “He has been a strong member of our company.” Beside him, Gimli heard Legolas draw in a sharp breath when Aragorn said ‘he.’

Boromir looked at him strangely. “You are not going to send this – this impostor home? She doesn’t belong here.”

“Legolas is one of us,” said Aragorn quietly, “And whether Elrond knew or not, he has pledged to accompany the Ringbearer. The Elves are strange folk, the Wood-Elves of Mirkwood even more so than those of Elrond’s kin. It is possible that their customs are different. If Legolas wishes to, he can stay. And… I will call him a man of his people, if he wishes it.”

Legolas stepped into the company then, and they all looked up at him slightly guilty. Gimli quickly strode forward to his side. “I do wish it,” said Legolas, “I am my father’s son, and I am the only, real, Legolas Thranduillion, whatever else I may be.”

Aragorn stood then and embraced Legolas. “I am sorry for doubting that, my friend.”

“It is forgiven,” said Legolas.

Gimli smiled and sat down next to young Pippin. Legolas was his friend, and it was good to see him accepted for who he really was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pippin’s comment about his aunt is one of those thoughtless comments that do not sit with what I think and advocate. It’s an example of the kind of thinking I hear a lot from people who are still somewhat uncomfortable with the trans* community. Similar issues include Boromir’s and Aragorn’s immediately transphobic reactions, and the idea that Mirkwood Elves must be weird if it’s okay for Legolas to be a transman. Probably the one individual who most closely reflects my own thoughts on the subject is Gimli, but of course, he’s a dwarf, so he’s grown up in a very different culture from my own.
> 
> Sorry about this long note, but I really didn’t want anyone to get the wrong impression about my attitude.


End file.
